The history of the Mr. Greenjeans restaurant in Toronto

For decades, Mr. Greenjeans was a quintessential pitstop in the Eaton Centre and the exact kind of place you'd make a beeline for when your arms were full of shopping bags and your stomach was running on empty. 

Tucked away on the fourth floor of the Eaton Centre in Toronto, the restaurant was a retreat where you'd take a break from all the chaos below, for a cheeseburger, a milkshake, or most likely, a plate of their signature buffalo chips. 

The original Mr. Greenjeans opened in 1975 on Adelaide Street East, inside a plant store, and quickly carved out a niche serving comfort food with flair. The Eaton Centre location officially opened its doors in 1980. With its two-storey high windows, leafy decor, and massive green-overall-shaped plastic menus, it stood out among the typical quick-service mall fare. 

A Mr. Greenjeans menu from 1981. Photo: Old Toronto.

The restaurant's popularity peaked in the mid-1990s, when the in-house vocal jam sessions known as the "Sing Your Heart Out" booth became a hit during birthday parties.

The menu was just as memorable, of course, with offerings like thick milkshakes, salads served in mason jars, and towering desserts like Here Comes the Fudge, which was exactly what it sounds like: a goblet filled with ice cream, brownies, whipped cream, and chocolate fudge sauce. 

Despite the nostalgia, the restaurant wasn't immune to change, and the mall continued to evolve around it. While the restaurant eventually shuttered due to multiple factors, the introduction of the Urban Eatery at the north end of the mall, along with the arrival of Richtree Markets to the south, and the growth of other restaurant chains like Joey, didn't exactly help its cause. 

Mr. Greenjeans went through several renovations to keep up, including a major redesign in 2006 by TV designer Sarah Richardson, who added chandeliers and modern white dinnerware. 

In 2014, a sign appeared at the restaurant's entrance announcing that Mr. Greenjeans was closing for good, along with a bittersweet farewell message on Twitter (now X). At the time, owner Maury Kalen told the Star that the decision came down to a number of factors, including rising costs, noting that the mall was "not a cheap place to be." 

Photo: blogTO.

Although Kalen once hinted that the restaurant might make a comeback, a decade has now passed with no sign of its return. Despite this, the memory of Mr. Greenjeans continues to live on in the minds of many who grew up in Toronto and remains a nostalgic part of the Eaton Centre's history.